Alibaba Cheat Sheet

Investor excitement about Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s upcoming initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange is gathering pace.

The market debut — expected to raise more than $20 billion — is predicted to be one of the largest in history globally and is slated for the first half of August, although a date has not yet been specified.

6. For the international commerce retail business, Alibaba primarily generates revenue from AliExpress, its international retail marketplace, through commissions.

7. Alibaba posted revenue growth of 66 percent in the first quarter of 2014 year-on-year. The EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) margin for the period was 54 percent. Both figures were the highest level for the company.

8. The company said in the prospectus filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that its sales for the nine months ended Dec. 31 rose 57 percent to $6.51 billion year-on-year. Net income for the period rose more than 300 percent to $2.85 billion year-on-year.

9. Yahoo — which holds a 22.5 percent stake in Alibaba — continues to benefit from the company’s reaccelerating revenue growth and high margins.

10. Yahoo is expected to sell about 40 percent of its stake in the company in the IPO, which could generate more than $10 billion and double Yahoo’s cash balance.

The company is already making its presence in the U.S. felt ahead of its public listing through the launch in June of e-commerce site 11 Main, which combines specialty shops and boutiques on one platform.